Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with (a) the British Airline Pilots' Association, (b) the Civil Aviation Authority, (c) the Metropolitan Police and (d) other relevant stakeholders on the near-miss incident between a drone and a passenger plane on 18 July 2016.
Answered by John Hayes
The Department for Transport and the Civil Aviation Authority work with a wide range of partners, including the British Airline Pilots' Association and the Police, to ensure our understanding of potential hazards to aircraft remains up to date. Work is underway to better understand the risk posed by drones to commercial aircraft and ensure that the regulatory and industry responses remain fit for purpose.
Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 15 June 2016 to Question 40015, if he will now place in the Library a redacted summary of the risk assessments commissioned by the Cross-Government Working Group on remotely piloted aircraft system on the use of drones for criminal purposes.
Answered by John Hayes
A redacted summary of the risk assessments report has been placed in the Library.
Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Answer of 27 May 2016 to Question 38311, what the outcome was of the Government's consultation on measures to regulate the use of drones.
Answered by John Hayes
Government believes we currently have a robust framework that balances penalties with commercial permissions. However, we recognise that this framework needs to keep pace with the emerging market. We continue to develop proposals which we will put forward in the near future.
Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he and his Ministers and officials had with Virgin Trains during or after the process of its tender for the West Coast mainline about the easement which allows concessions to pay off-peak prices for peak time travel for some customers with railcards.
Answered by Claire Perry
The decision to withdraw the application of the railcard discount was a commercial matter for Virgin Trains. Therefore no estimate has been made of passenger numbers affected by the Department.
The Request for Proposal in relation to the recent Direct Award with West Coast Trains Limited (trading as Virgin Trains) did not include a requirement to continue to provide the Railcard easement and it is not a requirement of the Franchise Agreement that is in place for this easement to continue to be provided for the franchise term. This is a commercial matter for Virgin Trains.
There have been no discussions between the Secretary of State for Transport, or his Ministers and officials, and Virgin Trains during or after the West Coast Main Line Direct Award negotiations about the Railcard easement.
The only correspondence received by the Department was a copy of the email Virgin Trains sent out on 18 August to Members of the House of Commons whose constituents were likely to be affected by this decision. This email has been placed in the House library. In addition, officials received three emails from the Head of Public Affairs, Virgin Trains with information updates on the easement announcement.
Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the number of people affected by the decision by Virgin Trains to end the easement whereby railcard holders can purchase discounted off-peak tickets for travel on peak time trains.
Answered by Claire Perry
The decision to withdraw the application of the railcard discount was a commercial matter for Virgin Trains. Therefore no estimate has been made of passenger numbers affected by the Department.
The Request for Proposal in relation to the recent Direct Award with West Coast Trains Limited (trading as Virgin Trains) did not include a requirement to continue to provide the Railcard easement and it is not a requirement of the Franchise Agreement that is in place for this easement to continue to be provided for the franchise term. This is a commercial matter for Virgin Trains.
There have been no discussions between the Secretary of State for Transport, or his Ministers and officials, and Virgin Trains during or after the West Coast Main Line Direct Award negotiations about the Railcard easement.
The only correspondence received by the Department was a copy of the email Virgin Trains sent out on 18 August to Members of the House of Commons whose constituents were likely to be affected by this decision. This email has been placed in the House library. In addition, officials received three emails from the Head of Public Affairs, Virgin Trains with information updates on the easement announcement.
Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the tender by Virgin Trains for the West Coast mainline included plans to end in September 2016 the easement whereby railcard holders can purchase discounted off-peak tickets for travel on peak time trains.
Answered by Claire Perry
The decision to withdraw the application of the railcard discount was a commercial matter for Virgin Trains. Therefore no estimate has been made of passenger numbers affected by the Department.
The Request for Proposal in relation to the recent Direct Award with West Coast Trains Limited (trading as Virgin Trains) did not include a requirement to continue to provide the Railcard easement and it is not a requirement of the Franchise Agreement that is in place for this easement to continue to be provided for the franchise term. This is a commercial matter for Virgin Trains.
There have been no discussions between the Secretary of State for Transport, or his Ministers and officials, and Virgin Trains during or after the West Coast Main Line Direct Award negotiations about the Railcard easement.
The only correspondence received by the Department was a copy of the email Virgin Trains sent out on 18 August to Members of the House of Commons whose constituents were likely to be affected by this decision. This email has been placed in the House library. In addition, officials received three emails from the Head of Public Affairs, Virgin Trains with information updates on the easement announcement.
Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will place in the Library the correspondence between his Department and Virgin Trains about its decision to end the easement for railcard holders to purchase discounted off-peak tickets for travel on peak time trains.
Answered by Claire Perry
The decision to withdraw the application of the railcard discount was a commercial matter for Virgin Trains. Therefore no estimate has been made of passenger numbers affected by the Department.
The Request for Proposal in relation to the recent Direct Award with West Coast Trains Limited (trading as Virgin Trains) did not include a requirement to continue to provide the Railcard easement and it is not a requirement of the Franchise Agreement that is in place for this easement to continue to be provided for the franchise term. This is a commercial matter for Virgin Trains.
There have been no discussions between the Secretary of State for Transport, or his Ministers and officials, and Virgin Trains during or after the West Coast Main Line Direct Award negotiations about the Railcard easement.
The only correspondence received by the Department was a copy of the email Virgin Trains sent out on 18 August to Members of the House of Commons whose constituents were likely to be affected by this decision. This email has been placed in the House library. In addition, officials received three emails from the Head of Public Affairs, Virgin Trains with information updates on the easement announcement.
Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the number of passengers on the Manchester to Leeds railway line in (a) 2015, (b) 2016, (c) 2017, (d) 2018 and (e) 2019.
Answered by Andrew Jones
The Department is currently running competitions to decide who will operate the new TransPennine Express and Northern franchises that commence in April 2016. The Department expects significant future growth on the services between Manchester and Leeds, supported by the substantial increase in capacity that the operator of the new franchises will be required to deliver. However, releasing specific forecasts of future passenger growth on routes served by the franchises during the competitions for those franchises could compromise the Department’s commercial position until the franchise competitions are concluded.
Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what ministerial visits there have been associated with promoting the electrification of the Manchester to Leeds railway line since 2011; and what the cost of each such visit was.
Answered by Andrew Jones
Ministers visit all areas of the country to discuss transport projects and to see for themselves the transport requirements in various places. It is not possible to give the cost of each such visit. It is this Government which is committed to transport. With £70 billion of capital investment over the next five years, we will deliver the biggest transformation in our rail network since Victorian times and our road networks in a generation. As Ministers we visit various parts of the country and receive updates on this record investment as we play catch-up from falling from 7th to 33rd in the World Economic Forum infrastructure world rankings between 1997 and 2010.